[FFVII] Pull The Trigger Now (Vincent + Cloud)

[wallwalker]

Title: Pull The Trigger Now
Author: wallwalker
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Rating: Probably NSFW
Characters: Vincent, Cloud
Word Count: 481
Content: Brief gore and body horror.
Summary: Vincent's nightmares have been very vivid lately.
Notes: Written for fic_promptly.

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Blood spills in the darkness.

The beast looks at the thing that he has killed, the thing that had once been a man. It's a hideous thing now, splayed obscenely in front of him, its eyes staring up at nothing. It had attacked him, wounded his chest - he could feel the cut over his ribs, felt it throb in pain. But he had won. He was stronger.

"Not bad," says the man behind him, and then he feels a sharp pain, a strange numbing of his senses. "It'll leave a mark, though. Not that you have any shortage of those, hm?"

He wants to attack the man. He knows that he deserves to die. But he can feel something heavy and dull in his head, and all he can do is lunge weakly at him as he falls to the ground, rapidly losing consciousness -

"Vincent!"

Vincent sat up immediately, his hand reaching for the aching scar over his ribcage. "Cloud," he gasps, looking up at the blond man who stood above him. "What happened?"

Cloud smiled wryly. "You were screaming. I didn't want anyone else to wake up."

"Hm." Cloud's sense of humor was as odd as ever, it seemed. Vincent looked around. He could see the circle of firelight in the distance, the shadows cast by his companions in their bedrolls. "I'm fine. It was a nightmare."

"Sounded like a hell of a nightmare."

"Yes," he answered. That was true enough.

Should he envy Cloud? He thought not; Cloud had as many scars as he, but in his mind. He remembered watching his breakdown at the Crater, remembered him begging Hojo to do the horrible things that he'd done to his other subjects. He remembered his fingers tightening around his gun as he fought the temptation to take it and end Cloud's life, for wishing for those things, because he understood too well what a horror it could be.

"I am all right," he said instead, and brushed Cloud's shoulder with his good hand. "Thank you for waking me, Cloud. My nightmares were... vivid, this time."

"Don't mention it." Cloud stood up. "Are you sure you want to sleep out here by yourself? I mean, we have a good camp set up. It'll be a lot more comfortable."

Vincent shook his head. "Thank you," he said. "But I think it is best if I stay here. I do not want to disturb you any further."

"Your call. Just come back if you change your mind."

Vincent nodded, then watched him walk away. He had not accepted that time; he wondered if he would accept the next time.